When White Feminists Respond to Anti-Racism Like Men Respond to Feminism

“I don’t see color,” “All lives matter,” “Why do you have to make it about race?”

Some of the responses we get to anti-racism sound awfully familiar – and that’s because they’re the same arguments anti-feminist men use to dismiss the value of feminism.

This comic really puts in perspective what feminists get wrong when they refuse to address race.

With Love,
The Editors at Everyday Feminism

Click for the Transcript

Panel 1

(A woman in a blue shirt with the pink letters “TM” on it is gesturing and speaking on the left side of the panel; on the right side of the panel are two talking heads, a man and a woman.)

Woman in Blue Shirt: You may have heard the term White Feminism™ and may be wondering what it means. White Feminists™ are people who espouse feminist beliefs but are not aware of the double standards they perpetuate when discussing issues of race – while not all White Feminists™ are white, the problems of White Feminism™ are grounded in white supremacy and a noxious sort of “colorblind” thinking that pretends all issues of race are resolved. In the same way that antifeminists frequently deny the existence of male privilege White Feminists™ deny the existence of white privilege and the advantages it confers.

Male Talking Head: I don’t want to seem sexist, but…

Female Talking Head: I don’t want to sound racist, but…

Panel 2

(A man and a woman speaking.)

Man: I’ve had to struggle my whole life – I didn’t just get the world on a platter because I’m a man.

White Woman: But you didn’t have to face misogyny in addition to your other challenges – that’s what I mean when I say “male privilege.”

Panel 3

(The woman from the previous panel speaking to a non-binary person of color.)

White Woman: I’ve had to stand up to sexism my whole life! Things haven’t been easy just because I’m white!

Person of Color: I’m not saying they were, but you don’t have to cope with anti-blackness and that’s what I’m asking you to consider.

Panel 4

(A man and a genderqueer person speaking.)

Man: Women can practice sexism too! I don’t see why I should change if they won’t!”

White Person: “Because sexism hurts everyone, not just women.”

Panel 5

(The person from the previous panel speaking to a woman of color.)

White Person: People of color can practice racism too! It’s not just whites!

Woman of Color: It’s true that racism harms all groups – which is why we need to fight it – but it’s not racism when POC are prejudiced against white people, because racism systemically oppresses POC in order to privilege white people. So using a specific incident of bigotry doesn’t validate you contributing to a legacy of white supremacist racism.

Panel 6

(A man and a woman speaking, the woman is gesturing in frustration.)

Man: You’d get your message out better if you were more polite and demure.

White Woman: Maybe I would but I’m not willing to hide my frustration as a concession to your sensibilities.

Panel 7

(The woman from the previous panel in a conversation with a woman of color.)

White Woman: If you were nicer you’d have more people on your side but you’re being too loud and aggressive.

Woman of Color: I have to be loud to be heard and I shouldn’t have to pretend to be meek to have my view of my experience legitimized.

Panel 8

(A man in a suit speaking to a woman who responds, while looking angry.)

Man: Women are just too sensitive – everything has to be too politically correct these days.

White Woman: Political correctness is recognizing the inherent humanity of the people you’re talking about so saying you don’t like political correctness only tells me you don’t see some people as valuable.

Panel 9

(The same woman from the previous panel speaking to an irritated-looking woman of color.)

White Woman: It seems like POC see everything as racist – relax, sometimes a joke is just a joke!

Woman of Color: Making an entire group of people the butt of your joke isn’t funny, it’s racist, and I’m kinda shocked that I still have to explain that to you.

Panel 10

(An angry-looking man speaking to a woman.)

Man: You feminists are just sexist against men!

White Woman: You can’t be sexist against men, we’re just pointing out institutionalized misogyny!

Panel 11

(The woman from Panel 1 speaking to a woman of color.)

White Woman: Excluding white women from your group is reverse racism!

Woman of Color: But you can’t be racist against the dominant group – we’re setting up a space that protects us from white supremacy.

Panel 12

(A man speaking to a woman.)

Man: Not all men are sexist, and I don’t appreciate the generalization.

White Woman: But all men benefit from institutionalized misogyny – you don’t have to be sexist to benefit from sexism.

Panel 13

(The woman from the previous panel speaking to a woman of color.)

White Woman: I’m not a racist! And it hurts my feelings that you would call me one!

Woman of Color: I’m not calling you a racist but the fact that your group ignores my lived experience smacks of internalized racism – you don’t have to be racist to benefit from white supremacy.

Panel 14

(A man speaking to a woman.)

Man: You’re just stereotyping all men as sexists!

White Woman: No I’m not, I’m just pointing out that the current system allows misogyny to thrive and calling for a change.

Panel 15

Woman of Color: No it doesn’t, but white feminism needs to examine the way it has supported white supremacy and take corrective action.

Panel 16

(A worried-looking man speaking to a woman who looks frustrated.)

Man: Look, I get that you’re upset but you’re making me feel attacked. Can’t we just focus on improving things for everyone equally? Isn’t humanism good enough?

Panel 17

(The woman from the previous panel looking worried and speaking to a WoC who looks frustrated.)

White Woman: I know that racial issues are a thing but we should focus on big-picture feminism instead of the Womynist movement so that more people feel included.

Panel 18

(An upset-looking man speaking to a frustrated-looking woman.)

Man: I can’t believe you’d call it sexist to prefer women with long hair – I believe in equality but when I get called out on personal preferences I just feel like nothing I do is good enough for you feminists.

Panel 19

(The woman from the previous panel looking upset and speaking to a young girl of color.)

Woman: How can you say I’m a racist after all my activism – I just said “all lives matter” and suddenly I’m feeling attacked and excluded and like I can’t even participate in the discussion!

Panel 20

(Three images of the woman in the blue shirt from the first panel speaking, as the images move from left to right the woman is slowly fading away.)

Woman: If your feminism is White Feminism™ it’s time to examine the world around you. Feminism that does not include, welcome, and respect women of color has no place in this world. And it’s time for White Feminism™ to fade away.

Alli Kirkham is a Contributing Comic Artist for Everyday Feminism and blogger, cartoonist, and intersectional feminist. Alli earned a BA in English Literature from Cal Poly Pomona in 2011 and uses it as an excuse to blog about books while swearing a lot. When she isn’t cartooning for Everyday Feminism or cursing at popular fiction, she posts cartoons and other silly things on her Tumblr. Check her out on Twitter @allivanlahr.